


cause this house don't feel like home

by reddies_spaghetti



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Coming Out, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Frank Kaspbrak is Alive, Homophobia, M/M, Richie is a loving bf, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, religious homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddies_spaghetti/pseuds/reddies_spaghetti
Summary: Sonia finds Eddie and Richie in a compromising position and she is far from happy about it.





	cause this house don't feel like home

**Author's Note:**

> Just heed the tags guys, this is a little heavy and intense. It's a sensitive topic for a lot of people and I hope that I didn't offend anyone. 
> 
> Come say hello on tumblr @reddie-spaghetti

As another bang echoed through the house, signalling another slammed door, Eddie brought his hands up to cover over his ears and prayed for the time to pass quiet. Prayed for the clock to reach 5pm and for his father to walk through the doors with his warm smile and whistling his happy tune that Eddie always got stuck in his head. He could hear his mother screaming down the stairs, glasses smashing in anger and he wished that she hadn’t all but thrown Richie out of the house.

But she had, and the time wasn’t anywhere close to five, which meant Eddie still had at least another three hours of listening to his mother’s cries and screams.

Eddie had no idea that his mother would have been home early, if he had then he definitely would have insisted that Richie keep his clothes _on._ Eddie didn’t know though, which lead to his mother walking in on Eddie and Richie in an extremely compromising position, causing her to go into a frenzy and throw Richie out of the house with the threat of calling the police if he ever came back. Once Richie was far enough away, his mother refused to even look at him as she walked him back to his bedroom, locking the door from the outside.

He had thought about climbing out of the window, but unlike Richie, it wasn’t something that Eddie was used to. Knowing him, he would lose his footing and not only be caught by his alright livid mother, but end up with another broken arm...or leg. So he remained where he was, on his bed with his hands over his ears, as his mother wreaked havoc downstairs.

Then the noise stopped. Eddie frowned and wiped away his tears, slipping off of the bed and padding over to the door. He couldn’t hear her stomping around, or smashing anything, he could barely hear her curses anymore. Had she left the house? Had she left him locked in his room as his punishment for well...being himself?

Just as the panic started to rise in his chest, his mother’s voice filtered up the stairs, but this time she was speaking to someone. Eddie pressed his ear closer to the door to listen to what she was saying. It was clear that she was on the phone to someone, but Eddie really had no idea who it was until she let their name slip;

“He needs help father, this is an urgent case. You must come quickly.”

Eddie’s jaw dropped in shock, his eyes filling with tears as he staggered back from the door, unable to listen in to anything more that his mother was saying. She had called the church. She had called the minister of their church to come over to his house and do...Eddie had no idea what he was going to do. It was the 21st Century, he had no idea that things like this still happened. Sure his mother was upset, but he was sure she would move on and learn to accept him for who he was.

Evidently not.

He crawled back over to the door and balled his hands into fists, pounding on it as hard as he could, desperate to get his mother’s attention. “Mama, Ma please let me out, please don’t call the church. Please just listen to me, please!”

A little bit of hope surged in his chest as he heard his mother’s footsteps ascend the stairs and stop just outside of his bedroom door, “Eddie-bear this is essential. You’re sick baby, sicker than I ever imagined. Frolicking around with that Tozier boy, doing dirty things with him, it’s wrong, it’s not human baby. Don’t worry though Father Grey is on his way and he will cure you of this sickness.”

“Mama I’m not sick. I’m not sick. It’s who I am. I love Richie and there is nothing wrong with that. If you would just listen to me!” Eddie sobbed, hand twisting the handle of the door, hoping his mother would unlock it.

“Oh baby, you’re even worse than I could have imagined. Perhaps you need some cleansing, more than what Father Grey can offer you on a one session basis. Maybe something more long term.” His mother was no longer listening to anything that he was saying, too caught up in her own beliefs to even consider that the world was changing around her.

A knock on the door stopped her rant and Eddie felt his blood run cold. It was only three, therefore it couldn’t have been his father. The only other person that it could be was Father Grey, having abandoned all of his other arrangements for the day just to come over to the Kaspbrak house and cure Eddie of his ‘sickness’.

It was more like the current events that were making him sick. When he was alone with Richie, when he was intimate with Richie, he felt like he could conquer anything. Now though, trapped in his room alone, with his mother and the minister on the other side planning his fate, he felt anything but.

His mother stomped down the stairs, her loud feet slamming against the wooden floorboards and Eddie pressed his ear to the door once more to listen in.

“Oh father, thank you for coming on such short notice. It’s worse than I ever could have imagined. He’s talking about love. Love with another man, father, it’s sinful! My baby boy is sick and he needs immediate care.” His mother sobbed to the minister and Eddie pinched his nose to stop the feeling of nausea from making its way up his throat.

“Calm down Sonia, let me speak to the boy first, perhaps this is all one misunderstanding,” Father Grey spoke and Eddie let out a bitter laugh. Misunderstanding? He was literally on his back, with Richie’s dick deep in his ass, there was no _misunderstanding_ about it. “If I think he is too far gone, then I will call a friend to come collect him. I know a very suitable school that focuses on helping confused young men and women fight the devils work.”

“Oh thank you father, thank you. He’s in his room. I’ve locked the door and he is smart enough to know not to climb out of the window.” Eddie sobbed and let his head fall against his door, shaking as his mother and the minister made their way up the stairs to stop outside of his room. He glanced once more at the clock. Three-thirty. Maybe, maybe he could hold them off long enough for his father to get home.

“Edward, I know you’re listening to me,” the voice for father Grey filtered through the door and Eddie scrambled back a bit, trying to put more distance between them, even though there was the doo separating them. “I know this must be very confusing for you, after all, your mother tells me that you have been spending a lot of time with Mr Tozier, and sometimes that can be mistaken for lust. But rest assure me my boy, the only people you should be lusting after are the beautiful young women that surround you. The bible says that it is a sin to lay with another man, and you have been doing just that. You have been sinning Eddie, and God does not look down well on sinners.”

Eddie swallowed, “Go fuck yourself,” he spat, unable to control his words. On the other side of the door he heard his mother’s shocked gasp of horror and Father Grey’s sharp intake of breath. “I don’t want a woman. I’m not attracted to women. I don’t want to fuck women. I like it when men fuck me, more specifically Richie. I like it, no, I _love_ it when Richie fucks me up the ass.”

“Edward Kaspbrak!” His mother’s shrill voice called through the door. “What did I tell you father, he’s a lost cause. What are we going to do?”

“Don’t worry Sonia, I will make a few calls, I can get my friend to come and collect Edward in the next hour or so. I will inform the school that this is an extreme case. All he needs to pack is a toothbrush, underwear and pyjamas.” Father Grey informed her and Eddie let out a scream from behind the door, kicking at it in an attempt to break it down.

He glanced at the window. He could still make an attempt to run for it, jump out of the window, copy Richie’s movements and make a break for it. Yet he knew he didn’t stand a chance, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that his mother would guess that he would attempt to escape, and be waiting for him.

“Did you hear that Edward, everything is going to be okay Eddie-bear. Pack a bag. Father Grey’s friend will be here to collect you soon.” His mother cooed and Eddie let out an uncontrollable sob.

“You- you can’t do this mama! Dad won’t accept it! What will you tell him when he comes home to find me gone?” Eddie sobbed and his mother tutted.

“Your father will agree with me that this is the best thing for you Eddie. You need to be cured and Father Grey believes that this school is the best way to do that. When you are better, you can come home to us, and we can be a family again.”

Eddie choked on his own breath, shaking like a leaf as he glared at the wooden door separating him from his mother, keeping him trapped. “This place isn’t my home anymore. Nothing you can say or do will make me forgive you for this.”

“You’ll see Eddie-bear. You’ll see that I was right all along and you’ll forgive me just like God will forgive you for the sins you have committed.”

“I don’t want forgiveness! I don’t want God to forgive me! He doesn’t need to because I haven’t done anything wrong! If that means that I’m going to Hell, then I will gladly accept it with open arms!” Eddie spat, wiping his sleeve of his sweater over his eyes, drying up the tears.

His mother didn’t say anything else, but nothing more needed to be said, and he listened to her walk down the stairs, leaving him alone. He glanced back at the clock, showing the time of 4pm. His father would be home in an hour, but something told him that he would be too late.

What if his mother was right? What if all this hoping for his father to come home and help him was for nothing? What if he really did think that Eddie was sick too, and agree with his mother to send him away.

At the thought, Eddie broke down in tears. He always had been a daddy’s boy. He loved his father more than anything, bonding over cars as well as Eddie’s desire to run track and hopes to become a Elementary School Teacher. There had never been a doubt in his mind that his father would accept him, no matter who he chose to love.

At least, not until now.

As the time passed, Eddie remained in his position at the foot of the bed, head buried into his knees as he pulled them close to his chest. He didn’t move, not to pack, not to attempt an escape, nothing. He could feel his body cramping up, but not even that spurred Eddie to move. Nothing did, that is, until he heard a car pull into the driveway, followed by a flurry of unfamiliar voices.

It wasn’t his father that was home, but in fact the man from the school, here to take him away.

That spurred Eddie into action, climbing up from the floor and moving as far away from the door as possible as he heard the voices of his mother and Father Grey ascend the stairs, explaining to the man what the situation was. Then there was the key in the door, and the turning of the lock before it opened to reveal the last three faces Eddie ever wanted to see.

“Leave me alone. I’m not going anywhere.” Eddie said, trying to keep his voice steady, trying not to give away just how scared he was.

“Don’t be silly Edward,” the unfamiliar voice spoke up. “You’re acting as if you have a choice. You made your decision to defy God and now your right to choose has been taken away from you until we are sure that you are cured of your sins. Now you can either come willingly, or I will drag you out of here and into my car myself.” The man spoke, voice cold and harsh.

Eddie wasn’t about to give up, at least not without a fight. He wasn’t going to succumb to this crazy idea that he had to be cleansed and cured just because he fell in love with a man. A man who was sitting at home with no knowledge whatsoever as to what was happening to Eddie in that moment. He swallowed and looked up, meeting the eye of the man definitely, “I guess you’re going to have to drag me then.”

The man cracked his wrists and stalked into his room, causing Eddie to try and scramble for a way to escape, but the man was too fast. He grabbed Eddie by the wrist, locking him in a death grip and dragging him towards the door. Eddie dug his heels into the carpet, whimpering as they were dragged along the surface, the man too strong for Eddie to resist.

So he started screaming.

“Stop, stop let me go! I’m not going anywhere with you! Stop!” He used his other hand to try and pry the man’s fingers from his wrist, but it only tightened his grip. As they reached the stairs he wrapped his arms around Eddie’s torso, dragging him down the stairs, kicking and screaming. “Put me down! Put me down! Mama, mama _please!_ **”**

“This is for your own good, Edward, you’ll thank me in the long run,” his mother said, simply watching as the man dragged him over towards the car.

“I will never thank you for this! I’m your son! Mama please, please don’t let them take me away! Please!” Eddie sobbed, struggling against the man’s grip as he unlocked the car. From where he was, he could see the straps in the back seat, put in place for people who were struggling, just like Eddie was. “No, no, no mama, mama please, please mama!”

Hysteria was rising in his chest, ripping at him from the inside. Tears were streaming down his face and all he could do was scream and fight and scream some more. He was so lost in his own emotions that he didn’t hear another car pull up and a familiar voice break through all the yelling.

“What in the hell is going on here?!”

His dad.

Eddie ripped his eyes open and he met the concerned, worried gaze of his dad and another sob burst out of his chest, “Dad! Dad please don’t let them take me away. Please don’t let them take me.”

He watched as his father’s eyes darkened and Eddie swore for a minute that he was about to brush him to the side and let the man drag him away, but it only lasted for a minute. An overwhelming sense of relief washed over him as his father walked firmly over to the man that was still holding onto him, stepping right into his personal space. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll take your hands off of my son and get the hell off of my property.”

The second the words left his father’s lips, the grip around Eddie was gone and he collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavy. He watched as the man got into the car and drove way as fast as he had arrived, before turning his attention to his dad, who was now addressing Father Grey and his mother.

“You too,” Frank pointed to Father Grey.

“Frank…” his mother started but she was quickly silenced.

“I mean it, I won’t ask twice. Leave.”

Father Grey nodded, giving his mother one final look before glancing over at Eddie as he climbed into his car and drove off. His mother gripped onto his dad’s arm, “Frank, Eddie is sick-”

“I don’t know what happened here and I’m not sure I want to know, at least not from you.” He spoke sharply. “I think you should go visit your sisters. I want to spend some time alone with my son.”

His mother blinked a few times, but she nodded, walking to the car and pulling out of the driveway. Eddie let out another sob as she disappeared down the street, and jumped as he felt his father’s and on his arm, helping him to his feet. As soon as he was steady, Eddie wrapped his arms around his father tight, sobbing into his shirt as he clung to him for dear life.

“It’s okay, shh. I’m here,” his dad whispered into his hair, pressing a kiss there before pulling back. “Come on, let’s get you inside and you can explain to me exactly what I just witnessed.

***

It was another hour after Eddie re-entered the house before he spoke up. His dad had helped him in, sat him down on the sofa and ordered chinese food before making him his famous hot chocolate. They sat in front of the tv, watching reruns of Friends until the food came. Not even for a second did he feel pressured into talking, but the longer the silence went on, the more nervous Eddie became.

What if his dad still agreed with his mother once he found out the truth? The thoughts of telling his father what was going on was eating him alive, right to the point where Eddie couldn’t keep it in anymore, regardless of his father’s reaction.

The second that their plates were cleared of food, Eddie pushed his tray away and turned to his dad, bringing his legs up to his chest on the sofa and swallowing thickly. It was now or never. All he had to so was spit it out, like ripping off a bandaid.

“Dad, I’m gay.”

There it was. It was out there in the open and now all Eddie had to do was wait and see what his father’s reaction would be. Would he sigh and walk away? Would he scream and smash things like his mother did? Would he throw him out? Call Father Grey back?

Out of all the reactions Eddie thought his dad might have, the one he got was not one of them. His dad looked up at him, smiling as he reached forward, placing his hand on his knee. “I know.”

Eddie blinked, his eyes widening as he stared at his dad in shock, “You- you know?”

“I’ve known for a while, but I wanted to wait until you were ready to tell me. I didn’t want to push you.”

Eddie reached up to wipe his eyes from the fallen tears, “H-How?”

“I’m best friends with Went remember? He told me one night that he saw you and Richie kissing on their couch.” His dad explained and squeezed Eddie’s knee. “It’s okay son, there is nothing wrong with loving a boy, nothing at all. I love you, no matter who you love.”

“I’m still me dad,” Eddie sobbed, reaching out to grip onto his dad’s hand, “I’m still the same kid you fix cars with and play baseball with and cheer on at track meets. I’m still the same kid who you used to piggyback around the house and I’m still the same kid who you had to scold after I stuck gum in Richie’s hair when he wouldn’t shut up.”

His dad laughed, wiping his own eyes and Eddie realised he was crying, “Come here kid,” he opened his arms and Eddie didn’t hesitate to cross over the couch and curl up in his dad’s hug. “I know you’re still you. Of course you are. Nothing that you can do will ever change that you’re my boy and always will be.”

Eddie had no idea how long they sat there, but it was long enough for the sky to turn dark and the sound of his mother returning from her sisters to echo through the living room. He tensed up and his dad pulled out of the hug, “Dad…”

“Go to Richie’s house okay? Stay the night with him and I’ll call you in the morning.” Eddie nodded his head, rushing up the stairs to quickly pack a night bag, listening as his mother came through the door and his father’s voice calling her into the living room.

He didn’t stop on his way out the door, sprinting down the street to Richie’s house. He rang the doorbell, letting out a breath as Maggie opened the door, welcoming him in with a warm smile, “Eddie, it’s very late is everything alright?”

“My dad- he told me to come here. He’s fighting with my mom,” Eddie whispered and Maggie just ushered him in, closing and locking the door behind him.

“Richie’s in his room, just go on up dear.”

Eddie smiled softly and nodded his head, walking up the stairs and knocking on Richie’s room door lightly before pushing it open. Richie was laying on his back, headphones in and head bobbing along to the beat of the music. A warm smile took over Eddie’s face and he closed the door behind him, dropping his bag by the door and and walking over to the bed, climbing on and causing Richie to jump.

He opened his eyes and shot up, pulling his headphones out in the process, “Eds, you almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Sorry,” Eddie said softly, not hesitating to climb into Richie’s lap, wrapping his arms around him tight and holding him tight.

“Hey, what’s going on? Did your mom totally freak out? I mean I know she threatened the cops on me but I put it down to regular old Sonia Kaspbrak,” Richie teased, pressing a kiss to Eddie’s hair.

“She called the minister,” Eddie whispered and he felt Richie go stiff.

“Excuse me, she what?” Richie hissed, wrapping his arms around him tightly.

“She called Father Grey, and he came over and basically said I was a lost case...and they were going to send me away,” Eddie clutched onto Richie tight, his knuckles going white.

“Did you run away?” Richie asked and Eddie shook his head.

“My dad- he came home just in time. I- he was so mad...with everyone. Even my mom.”

“Rightfully so, she was going to send you away, Eds,” Richie whispered, voice thick with emotion.

“I know,” Eddie whispered into Richie’s shoulder, tears gathering behind his eyelids. “I can’t ever forgive her for what she did...and I can’t go back home with her there. It’s my house but...it’s not my home. I don’t feel safe there anymore.”

“Then you can stay here with me,” Richie assured him. “You can stay here with me for as long as you want.”

Eddie tilted his head up, smiling softly as his boyfriend and he reached up, brushing his fingertips over Richie’s cheek and he leaned up for a kiss. Richie breathed out against his lips, pulling Eddie closer, arms tight around his waist, keeping him close, keeping him safe.

“Thank you,” Eddie whispered against Richie’s lips as they broke apart.

“Don’t ever thank me for that, Eddie,” he whispered, pressing another light kiss to his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Eddie breathed back, and he meant it. He meant every word.

They fell asleep, wrapped up in each other’s arms, safe and content. When Eddie woke up the next morning, he saw that he had received a text from his dad, and the weight that had been hanging over him faded away as he read the words.

**Your mother is going to go away for a while. You can come home whenever you want. I love you. - Dad.**

Right then, Eddie knew that everything was going to be okay.

 


End file.
